Bethesda “Can’t Guarantee ” Elder Scrolls Online Will Launch for Consoles This Year

Many are wondering what is taking The Elder Scrolls Online so long to be released. Already available on PCs, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners are now in same boat as one another, waiting for the copy of the version they were promised. A recent delay has already pushed it back six months, and the actual waiting time might be even longer than that.

Speaking with IGN, Creative Director Paul Sage says that he “can’t guarantee” that the game will be released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this year.

“I will tell you we are working round the clock to try and make that happen. I can’t guarantee anything, that would be foolish to do, but we are certainly working with that goal in mind.”

Sage confirms that the studio is focused right now on the PC version’s Thieves Guild, The Dark Brotherhood, and the justice system. No release date has been quite set for those either.

“The reason is we do want fully fleshed out skill systems and quest lines for that, so that’s further out. My prediction is we’ll probably get the Justice System in before we get the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood in, just because we want that system to be fully fleshed out and players used to the system before they have to use it.

“I don’t have a date lined up, but it’s a little further out. I wouldn’t expect it in the first four updates.”

The Elder Scrolls Online has already been available for the PC for several months, but its reception points to a game not on the same level of quality as Bethesda’s other entries in the series. The universal praise Oblivion and Skyrim received has been replaced with shrugs of indifference. Maybe Bethesda just wants to iron out all of the complaints before opening the game to two new audiences, so it can make a better first impression.

Nobody wants to go through the pain Square Enix had to when it was forced to rebuild Final Fantasy XIV from the ground up. Best to nip these issues in the butt before the game becomes too huge. Hopefully, Bethesda can get all of the momentum and hype to swing back into its favor before these games ever come out.